Exploration

Nothing brings me more glee than meta achievements. They are always always so Prestigious. And with Wintersday coming but once a year, getting the 12 required achievements to complete this Wintersday’s Achievement will be even sweeter than normal. Below is a guide to help you complete just that feat before the holiday ends and you lose the chance till next year.

During my time spent running around the new level 80 map I was able to see most of the new island. It seemed some parts were gated off by the terrain, but I didn’t have time to locate the routes to some of the inner locations. What I did see (about 75%) contains some of the most impressive art direction in the game thus far. The concept of a lush tropic isle tucked away in Sea of Sorrows was, in my gushing opinion, hit out of the park.

Act 2 of the Mad Memoires scavanger hunt is underway and players are racing to locate the six latest pages. We've got a detailed walkthrough to find the spooky ghosts that tell the tale of Mad King Thorn and how to retrieve the six remaining pages of the Mad Memoires and get an awesome holiday theme back item.

It's that special time of year where the hinges creak more ominously and the howling of the wind could be the sepulchral dirge of the undead. Halloween has come to Tyria in the form of the Shadow of the Mad King event. There is a lot to do in this first ever holiday event for Guild Wars 2 and there are plenty of achievements to testify to this fact. We've put together the following guide to help you lock in the eight current Special Event achievements to help you make the most of the Mad King's return to Tyria.

This year's Halloween Event kicks off with a scavenger hunt of epic proportions. The adventurers in Tyria are scrambling to recover the lost history of Mad King Thorn and they need your help. Hidden throughout the land are six ghosts holding six pages of the Mad Memoires, and locating all six will reward you with a brand new back item. Our guide to the first act reveals the locations of all six pages, along with details on operating the Candy-Powered Matter Meter.

With the Shadow of the Mad King event now in full swing, players are scampering across Tryia to carve pumpkins, locate Haunted Doors for some trick-or-treating fun, and participate in a variety of other activities themed for Halloween. However, there are plenty of other ghostly encounters to be found on various maps in the game. In the spirit of the holiday, we've rounded up a few of our favorite ghostly encounters for you to check out in this special edition of our explorer's journal, the Splendid Chest.

Our skill challenge guide series continues today with the mid-level map, Bloodtide Coast. This map features the entrance to the Chantry of Secrets, oodles of bandits, and more underwater content than you can shake a trident at. It also plays home to six unique skill challenges, with most being fairly straight forward, and one or two offering a true challenge for most players.